Today’s PM minute comes from an experience that we had while we were out for dinner the other night and is a lesson learned in being consistent with your communication, engagement, and the level of service that you provide your sponsor and stakeholders throughout the life of your project.

The restaurant that we went to was not busy, there were maybe ix other tables seated. But, we were not greeted or seated for at least five minutes, leaving us to wonder for what seemed like a very long time, whether anyone was going to be able to take care of us.

Once we were seated, it was another ten to fifteen minutes before our server greeted us and another several minutes before our orders were taken.

Now, the interesting part. Our food was brought to our table very quickly and was exactly what we ordered. While we were eating, our server checked on us frequently.

But, it took another ten to fifteen minutes to get us our check after the table had been cleared. Again, through this process, the restaurant was not busy, and there appeared to be enough staff. But, there wasn’t enough communication. Simple check-ins or updates along each step would have smoothed the wait time a great deal.

So, if this were a project, it’d be tempting for the PM to think things went very well. After all, the requirements were correct and the service was delivered on time and on quality. But, we were left alone for much of the duration to wonder how things were going and whether we’d get what we needed in the end.